Julie Corey, 39, had been accused of beating and strangling Darlene Haynes to death in Worcester in 2009 before cutting the fetus out of her body and passing the baby off as her own.

A Worcester woman was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her roommate and stealing her unborn baby. Credit: Jan Vargas, Flickr

The Worcester woman who was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing her pregnant friend and then cutting the fetus from her womb was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole.

Following a three-week trial, Julie Corey, 39, was convicted in Worcester Superior Court last Wednesday of the heinous crime, which happened in Worcester in 2009.

Authorities said Corey beat and strangled 23-year-old Darlene Haynes to death before slicing a 9-inch incision into her abdomen and removing her unborn child.

Among those to deliver emotional impact statements in court Tuesday was Haynes’s older daughter, who is 9.

Haynes was eight months pregnant when she was killed. After the murder, Corey fled the state and passed the child, a girl, off as her own. Corey was found in a New Hampshire homeless shelter days after Haynes’ body was discovered in a closet in her apartment.

Authorities said Corey was with her boyfriend at the time of her arrest, and had convinced the man that the baby was hers.

DNA testing proved the child to belong to Haynes and her boyfriend, with whom the girl now lives.

Following last week's verdict, District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. called it "probably the most horrific case" his office had seen.